Reading Resolutions, it's that time again!
Last year, I made a bunch of goals. And I did not really complete many of them. But that's okay! I'll still take a look back at what I aimed to do last year and then think about what I'd like to do next year.
I attempted Book Riot's 2018 Read Harder challenge and did not make it all the way through. My priorities changed this year and rather than struggle through reading books that I was really having trouble getting excited about, I gave up on the challenge.
I wanted to focus on authors Sherman Alexie and Louise Erdrich this year, but I also didn't make my goal of reading two books by each of them, either. To be honest, stuff came to light about Sherman Alexie's alleged sexual harassment and it kinda put me off. So I shifted my focus a little to Native American authors in general and I read several fabulous ones (here are a few that I wrote about for my library's blog).
I wanted to focus on short story collections this year. I did read a couple, including one of my top books of the year (All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva), but I did not read 6, which was my goal.
I wanted at least 40% of my reading to be authors of color this year. According to GoodReads, I read 152 books this year, 68 of which were by authors of color. That's 45%, so one goal met. And this is my favorite goal, so I'm definitely setting this one again.
Let's look ahead to 2019.
It really worked well for me not setting a numerical goal for reading in 2018. I did set a GoodReads goal of reading 50 books (later expanded to 100 books), which I did to remind myself that it's not the number that matters. I'll probably do that again this year.
I love Book Riot's Read Harder challenge, but I know that I probably will not make it a priority. I would like to craft some middle grade / YA book lists around some of the categories for families reading along, so look out for that in coming months.
As mentioned above, setting a goal for inclusive reading really enriched my life and I'm doing that again. At least 40% of the books I read will be by authors of color.
As mentioned above, setting a goal for inclusive reading really enriched my life and I'm doing that again. At least 40% of the books I read will be by authors of color.
One of the ways that my priorities have changed this year is that I have been getting involved in nominating books for Library Reads, and in particular seeking out diverse books and authors of color to submit to Library Reads. I would like to make this a priority this year and vote for at least 15 books by authors of color for Library Reads. Of course, this means I will probably read more than 15 eligible titles to find 15 that I love enough to nominate.
I would like to focus on romance this year. It's a genre that I haven't read too much of and that comes under constant criticism. I don't have a specific number in mind, but I've already started a list of books I'd like to read in 2019. I welcome suggestions! What are your must-read romance titles?
I really enjoyed participating in Middle Grade May this year and I'd like to do that again. I don't know if anyone cared, but I loved doing the video booktalks each week that went along with that. I'm not turning into a BookTuber, but I'd like to play around with more video booktalks and Instagram stories.
What about you? What are your goals to read better this year?
What about you? What are your goals to read better this year?